Part 3

These forms are found in a book published at Berlin by Bath, in 1906, entitled “The Military Interpreter,” destined for the use of German officers “in the enemy’s country,” which seems to be a French speaking country such as Belgium or France, as the forms are drawn up in French. The book contains, to quote its introduction, “the French text of the majority of the documents, letters, proclamations and other forms which may be needed in time of war.”

Among these interesting documents we find the following form to be used by officers when wishing to rob a whole city at once. It will be observed that the pretended excuse for the robbery is supplied. The document is as follows:

“A fine of 600,000 marks, on account of the attempted assassination of a German soldier by a .........., has been imposed upon the City of O......... by order of...........

“Fruitless efforts have been made to secure the remittance or reduction of this fine.

“The limit of time fixed for the payment of the fine expires tomorrow, Saturday, December 17th, at noon.

“Bank Notes, Coin, or Silverware will be accepted.”

The general outline of this useful form was followed by General Baron von Leutwitz when on November 1st, 1914, he imposed upon the City of Brussels “an additional fine of Five Million Francs” on account of an alleged altercation between a Belgian policeman, named De Ryckere, and a German soldier.

Here is another form, intended to give an air of justification to an act of robbery:

“The German authorities, having demanded a war contribution of two million francs from the city of M........., because its inhabitants fired upon the German troops when entering the city, and the municipality having declared that it has not the necessary funds and that it cannot find such funds among the citizens, the German authorities demand a settlement by bills of exchange.”

If the above demand failed to produce the desired results, the German Commanders were provided with another form to be used as a “follow-up” letter. This is a form of letter to be written by the Commanding General to his subordinate, and the substance is to be communicated to the recalcitrant citizens.

“I acknowledge receipt of your letter of the 7th of this month telling me of the great difficulties you think you will meet in collecting the contributions.

“I can only regret the explanations that you think proper to make on this subject. The order in question (which comes from my Government) is so clear and precise, the orders which I have received (on this subject) are so explicit, that, _if the amount due by the City of B......... is not paid the city will be burned without mercy_.”

The foregoing form seems to have been substantially followed by Lieutenant General von Niebur in his letter to the Burgomaster of Wavre on August 27th, 1914. A fine of three million francs was imposed upon the little town of Wavre for an alleged attack on the German troops, and in his letter of the above date Lieutenant General von Niebur declares that “_the City of Wavre will be burned and destroyed if the levy is not paid in due time, without regard for anyone; the innocent will suffer with the guilty_.”

Here is another form for extorting money from a community:

“On account of the destruction of the bridge at F......... I command, as follows:

“The district shall pay an additional contribution of ten million francs, as a fine. This information is brought to the knowledge of the public with the following notice, namely, that the manner of distributing the assessment will be indicated later, and that the payment of the said amount will be exacted with the greatest severity. _The village of F......... has been at once burned with the exception of certain houses reserved for the use of the troops._”

The foregoing form recalls the Proclamation of General von Buelow to the Municipal Authorities of Liege, on August 22nd, 1914, in which he said:

“_It is with my consent that the Commander-in-Chief has ordered the whole town (of Andenne) to be burned and that about one hundred people have been shot._”

The scenes of horror and barbarism depicted in the Reports of the Official Belgian Commission of Inquiry have not been brought about by accident. They are the direct result of the orders given and the doctrines inculcated by the German General Staff.

* * * * *

Transcriber’s Notes

The use of Roman numerals for the section headings was made consistent.

Minor punctuation errors have been corrected.

On page 18, “druken” was changed to “drunken.” (drunken orgies, sack of whole towns)

End of Project Gutenberg's The Martyrdom of Belgium, by Gerard Cooreman